STAGE 1: (summary page)

• In 2003, Erden Eruç bicycled 5,546 miles roundtrip from Seattle to Denali (Mt. McKinley) towing all climbing gear (WHY?)
• Walked in 67 miles over glaciers to reach base camp
• Climbed 20,320 feet (6,194 meters), achieving a Sea-to-Summit climb of Denali - by human power

• In May 2007, Erden bicycled from Seattle to the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon for his launch on the Pacific Ocean.
• The starting point of the Pacific row was later moved from Tiburon to Bodega Bay, to avoid the strong tides at the Golden Gate. Erden bicycled from Tiburon to Bodega Bay to set the stage for departure.
• Bodega Bay is the starting point of Erden's human powered circumnavigation.
• After five weeks, Erden was finally able to launch his ocean rowing boat from Bodega Bay on July 10, 2007. His intentions were to reach Australia by rowing to climb the summit of Mt. Kosciuszko, which will be the second summit on the Six Summits list.
• Erden reached the waters of Papua New Guinea and ended his crossing until after the typhoon season. He became the 4th person to row the Pacific Ocean solo east to west.
• 312 days spent at sea became the new Guiness World Record for time spent at sea by a solo ocean rower.

We hope that you followed along:
  312 days across the Pacific solo from California to the waters of Papua New Guinea!!!
    Reports from the boat -- Reported Location
    Ocean Rowing Society -- Home Page -- Maps by ARGOS Beacon

PRIOR SUCCESS:

On sabbatical from the Six Summits Project, Erden Eruç rowed alone from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean Sea. The row had started in Lisbon as a pair, arriving at Las Palmas on December 11, 2005. The solo Atlantic crossing time of 92 days which began on January 29, 2006 in Las Palmas, put Erden into the Caribbean Sea on May 2. On May 5, Erden made landfall at the island of Guadeloupe. With this solo crossing from the Canaries to Guadeloupe, Erden became the 33rd person in history to row across the Atlantic East to West single-handed.

We hope that you followed along:
  92 days across the Atlantic solo from Canary Islands, landfall at Guadeloupe on day 96!!!
    Reports from the boat -- Reported Location
    Ocean Rowing Society -- Home Page -- Maps by ARGOS Beacon

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Why are we doing this?

We are in the business of realizing dreams, and helping others achieve theirs.

There are dreams that never go away. They live inside us. We learn to live with them. We tuck them away. We try to ignore them. We have commitments in the city. We feel guilty to even consider those dreams. Sometimes we indulge, lifting our eyes off the pages of a magazine with colorful pictures, and gaze into the distance. These dreams most often define the true individual inside us that wants to come alive.

Why is it that we accept as final our boundaries, and never reach beyond them? Is it because, as we grew up, we were told "to get real," or "to come down to earth" enough times that we are now set in our ways?

We are on this journey together to tell young students that dreams are possible with due diligence. We want to show them that they too can realize their dreams if they keep a positive outlook for life, seek proper advice and decide to take the necessary steps forward. We want to demonstrate that with collaboration comes understanding, and with understanding comes peace, which brings out the beauty in humanity.

But still: why take on such a long and demanding journey just to make that point? And why the summits?

One such dream was the path that Erden Eruç traced on a world map at his workplace in 1997. The path defined a human powered journey around the northern hemisphere. It was one that sparked years of research and planning which evolved over time. When Erden met Göran Kropp, there was mutual excitement about the possibilities, and Göran offered encouragement while affirming Erden's dream. An unfortunate accident while rock climbing together led to Göran's death, and Erden decided to start his human powered journey around the world. To honor Göran's spirit, Erden's journey now includes reaching the highest summit on each of six consecutive continents along the way. He will touch these "from the sea to the summit" after approaching them by human power. The route has now evolved into a true circumnavigation.

The goal of Around-n-Over is to motivate and to educate students in elementary and middle schools. We have offered presentations which engaged the students, covering goal setting, realizing dreams, overcoming obstacles, and dealing with tragedy while using the journey as the backdrop. We have offered sessions with high school students where career choices, technology applications to adventure, business aspects of our project were the topics of discussion.

Our goal has been to remain environmentally conscious in our journey and in our presentations to empower the children with the skills to carry themselves responsibly in life and on their own mini-expeditions into the outdoors. Supporting the Bishwa Darshan Primary School in Nepal is our legacy goal which will be an ongoing consideration. In the long run, we will become enablers, helping other adventurers to achieve their dreams, which will keep the inspirational stories in front of children.